Passion Ignited (22 page)

Phoenix eyed Nitro with apprehension, but
finally nodded at Ekhart. The three Ignitis dashed off in the
direction of the living quarters. “Now, my dear, follow them and
get cleaned up. I do so hate to see blood all over you, and I would
very much like to introduce you to the ranks.”

Chapter
Twenty-One

“Could we have gotten any closer to dawn?”
Blaze asked. He slid off his jacket and folded it over his arm as
he and the others stood in the warm foyer of the Guardians’
mansion. No one else was around, seeing as how the sun was starting
its ascent into the sky. Honestly, he was feeling a little peckish
after the long night of searching. Luckily he’d just have to wait a
few more hours until CornDog King opened up. Some corn dogs sounded
good right about now. Yeah, he might just stay up until they opened
and send Gregory to go get a few dozen.

“Not much, it was already starting to burn,”
Raider replied.

Blaze turned his attention from the
honey-goodness that was corn dogs and focused on his
brother-in-arms. “Just couldn’t give up, could you?”

They’d hunted for hours and found nothing. No
clues as to where Nitro might be, no piles of dead people—which
Blaze had feared they would find—no trails of blood, no humans
running the streets with pitchforks and burning torches—which he’d
kind of hoped to find…The good old days were fun,
dammit.

Blaze looked at Ash and Raider, recognizing
the look of hopelessness in both their eyes. He hoped to all the
gods that he’d never fall for a female himself. They brought
nothing but pain. He’d recently watched Draven go through the
anguish that only a female could bring, and although they were
reunited again—and anyone could see how happy they were—that didn’t
take away the heartache he’d seen Draven go through. And now Raider
was going through the same shit with Nitro. Her own brother didn’t
have nearly the pain radiating from his eyes as the vampire did,
but the pain there still made him want to go out and buy the
bastard a puppy just so he didn’t have to see that damned pain.
“What’s eating you, Raid?” he asked, although he already
knew.

“You mean aside from the fact that my female
is missing?” He snorted sarcastically. “I saw what happened to the
demon’s body once the rays hit it.
I
know enough to stay out
of the sun, but she wouldn’t realize that it could kill her. She’s
nearly mindless.”

“Nearly,” Ash agreed. “But Nitro’s strong,
she’d never let herself be vulnerable.”

Blaze considered that for a moment. Ash would
know Nitro better than anyone, including Raid. If her brother had
some hope left, then he couldn’t let his brother lose it. “I think
Ash is right. We’ll get started again as soon as that sun sets. How
long have you two been up…two, three days straight? Go hit your
beds and rest up. If you don’t, you know Raine will be on both your
asses until you do.”

He’d expected argument, but got none. Thank
the gods. There was still some sense in these two. They headed
toward their rooms to hit the hay, and just as they were out of
sight, Blaze turned toward the library to keep busy until he could
get some dogs.

****

Demetrius walked out of the bathroom, steam
billowing from the door as it escaped into the bedroom. His laptop
sat on top of the cream colored bedspread that was meticulously
smoothed over the bed. Donning only a towel, he made his way toward
the bed and the laptop.

Ping.

Just as it had seconds ago, the computer
alerted him that someone was messaging him. He hit a button,
bringing the machine to life from its hibernation. The Guardians’
internal site was already open. A pop-up in the middle of the
screen informed him that he was invited into a conversation. After
he accepted the invite, another pop-up displayed on his
screen.

Draven:
Demi.

Draven:
U on,
man?

Demetrius set to typing.

Demetrius:
Hey brother,
I’m on. You texting me from the temple? Didn’t know that place had
service.

Draven:
Ha! U don’t
think the gods have internet?

Demetrius:
Didn’t say
they couldn’t. Good to know they do.

Draven:
Nah, I’m back
home. Got my female.

Demetrius:
Congrats,
man. Knew you could do it.

Draven:
Thx. U ever
check ur email?

Demetrius:
No,
why?

Draven:
New shit,
different day. Easier to explain if u had a phone. I suck at
typing.

Demetrius snorted. Ferox had said the same
damn thing countless times, but he never wanted to be that
traceable. Cell phones meant you were constantly reachable, and
that was something he never wanted to be.

Demetrius:
No shit. I
feel like the weeks pass by while I wait for your
replies.

Draven:
F
U

Demetrius:
Don’t get
your panties in a wad, man. I’ll pull up my mail.

Draven:
U always
thinking about my panties big boy? Well, if it’s any consolation,
I’m not wearing any. /wink wink

Demetrius barked out a laugh. Shaking his head
at the unwelcome visual, he minimized his chat session and opened
his email. There had been a message from Draven a few hours ago. He
read the email quickly and re-opened the chat screen.

Demetrius:
You
serious?

Draven:
About going
commando? Why, you like?

Blazin’ Hot:
WTF??!?

Demetrius:
Blaze, where
did you come from?

Blazin’ Hot:
Just logged
in. Again, I say What Tha Fuck?

Draven:
Demi was just
thinking about my panties.

Blazin’ Hot:
When did
you start wearing panties? Your girl know?

Draven:
LMFAO

Blazin’ Hot:
Whoa. Does
she share hers with u man? She’s kinky like that, isn’t
she?

Demetrius:
Back on track
guys.

Blazin’ Hot:
Isn’t
she??

Draven:
I think you
missed the point. I don’t
wear
panties.

Blazin’ Hot:
Gross
imagery, man. And anyway, I don’t believe u. Let’s just say that
now everyone will know how you roll.

Dravie Pink Panties:
Y,
you tell everybody?

Dravie Pink Panties:
WTF?

Blazin’ Hot:
Snap! Your
account’s been hacked, brother. Or should I say “Dravie Pink
Panties?”

Blazin’ Hot:
Got you
good

Demetrius laughed, despite the fact that this
conversation had spun out of control.

Dravie Pink Panties:
Change it back Fckr.

Demetrius:
Alright guys,
enough.

Blazin’ Hot:
Oh no, not
until everyone’s seen this shit.

Dravie Pink Panties:
Damn u bastard. Ally just saw this and she’s laughing
now

Blazin’ Hot:
Of course
she’s laughing, because it’s true. Put her on

Dravie Pink Panties:
No

Blazin’ Hot:
Put her on.
If you do, I’ll consider changing your name back.

Dravie Pink Panties:
No
u wont, fckr

Blazin’ Hot:
Fine. I
guess I’ll be adding a new pic to go along with ur new display
name, then. Hmm, do u want a lace or satin thong?

Demetrius:
Enough
guys

Blazin’ Hot:
Oh
shiiiiit. I got it. A pink teddy.

Dravie Pink Panties:
F
U, Blaze. Good luck finding a pic of me in that shit

Demetrius:
Guys

Blazin’ Hot:
Ever heard
of Photoshop?

Demetrius:
GUYS! Shut
up!

Dravie Pink Panties:
Sorry

Blazin’ Hot:
Sorry

Demetrius:
Draven, were
you serious about the sitch with Thrash?

Dravie Pink Panties:
Yeah, dad booted him out

Blazin’ Hot:
Yep, saw
the whole thing. Don’t know what got into Ferox

Demetrius:
Where is
Ferox now?

Dravie Pink Panties:
Unknown

Blazin’ Hot:
He might be
in bed. I saw him last night and when he kicked Thrash out of the
brotherhood. Other than that he’s been MIA a lot.

Demetrius:
Where’s
Thrash?

Dravie Pink Panties:
Haven’t found him yet

Demetrius:
Anyone been
looking?

Blazin’ Hot:
That’s why
I logged in. Thought maybe he’d be on.

Demetrius:
He ever
on?

Blazin’ Hot:
Rarely. But
it was worth a shot.

Dravie Pink Panties:
Ally also went out looking for him last night. But she didn’t
spot him anywhere.

Demetrius:
Ally
went
looking for him?

Dravie Pink Panties:
Don’t ask

Blazin’ Hot:
Sore
subject for the panty man.

Dravie Pink Panties:
That’s not the only reason I logged in tonight. There’s
more.

Demetrius settled on his bed, waiting to read
whatever Draven had to tell him next.

****

“Raider, you okay?”

Raider squeezed his eyes shut, trying
unsuccessfully to drown out the irritating voice that interrupted
his dream. Whoever was talking sounded muffled, making the kind of
sense that…well, didn’t. The incessant voice kept calling out to
him, forcing him to surface from his dream. It was one he hadn’t
wanted to rouse from, and at the same time was desperate
to.

“I think he’s coming around. Gregory, will you
get more washcloths?”

Raider opened his eyes, finally recognizing
the voice that woke him. Raine was leaning over his bed, dabbing a
cold, wet rag over his face and neck. Her eyes were wide with
concern, and yet she kept to her task of dabbing the cloth over his
skin.

“Thank the gods,” she said. “How are you
feeling?”

He tried to respond, but no sound came from
his throat. He’d been about to ask her the same thing. Her eyes
appeared sunken in, like she’d gotten even sicker than when he’d
seen her last. And although she tried to hide it, her skin was
freezing cold.

“Oh gods, I’m sorry. Don’t talk. Just stay
quiet,” she said, patting his shoulder.

His throat felt raw, his body wet. He looked
down at himself and saw a sheen of sweat covering his chest and
arms. His breath heaved in and out of his lungs, as if he couldn’t
get enough. His body was too weak to do anything.

What the hell had happened to him?

Gregory brought in more rags and dipped them
in water before handing them to Raine. She placed the cold, wet
cloths on his chest and arms, trying to cool his skin.

“Alright, we’ll get you better,” she said,
still placing more ice-cold rags on his skin. “You caused everyone
a scare, Raid. You were yelling all day. We thought that the
mansion was under attack, but we couldn’t find anything or anyone.”
She placed another cloth lower, this time across his stomach.
“We’ve been trying to wake you for hours.”

Raider closed his eyes. As soon as his lids
blackened his vision, he began reliving his nightmare all over
again. He’d been fighting a horde of demons, weaponless other than
his fangs and fists. A crowd was situated in a large circle around
him, screaming and chanting, urging him on as he fought for his
life. Or maybe they’d been cheering on his opponents. Demon after
demon attacked, seemingly from all angles at once. He fought every
one that came at him. Over and over he fought. Some he killed, some
he simply injured. His body became weary.

A large-horned creature charged him, and
Raider’d been able to side-step its attack. Only, when he’d been
distracted by another demon, the son of a bitch had stabbed its
curving horn right into his side. He slashed out at the creature
with his…

Claws
. Dream Raider had looked down at
his hand, realizing it wasn’t his own. The hand was small, the
fingers thin, delicate. He glanced down at himself quickly, taking
in the sight of his body.

It wasn’t his own.

He was in Nitro’s body, with her black bustier
and tight pants that Raine had dressed her in last night. She was
bruised and bloody. In bad shape. His heartbeat kicked into
overdrive, pounding in his chest as he thought of his female
injured. Possibly fighting to stay alive. A winged demon dove
toward her, its claws raking Nitro’s back as she dodged out of the
way. She rolled to her feet, facing off against the flying bitch as
it came in for another attack—